Husband & wife group: Army and SOE

Article about: Now we have a selection of letter which he sent home. I felt I was intruding on their privacy when I first got these and read them. They are love letters. So I will just show a few here with

Re: Husband & wife group: Army and SOE

Thanks Stewy.

Here are her enrolement papers into the FANY.

The ladies who joined were generally from the Middle Class and had private means, i.e. their own money. As you can see from the following documents, you had to pay for everything. Look at the prices for the badges and buttons, Six Shillings and Fourpence. Not cheap. Your also bought your own uniforum: they recommended the best London tailors.

Re: Husband & wife group: Army and SOE

Re: Husband & wife group: Army and SOE

Hi Stewy, it was and still is to some extent, almost a "private army". Hence you had to buy your own kit. It was a uniformed civilian organisation. This was one of the attractions to the recruiters from Military Inteligence / SOE. (Plus most of them were well educated) So while working as an agent they could not be accused as being "out of uniform" as they were not soldiers in the true sence of the word. Not that this little niceity did them much good in the hands of the Gestapo....

Here is some more documentation. Note how she appeared to be joining as an ambulance driver for the British Red Cross.

The standing orders to be seen at bottom left are interesting to read. Click on the image to enlarge it to read. This reflects well the social background to which Corps members came from.

Re: Husband & wife group: Army and SOE

With WW2 at an end, she carried on in uniform. She served in Germany as part of the British Army of the Rhine for several years. Here she was a civilian officer of the military government. Note the slip on shoulder titles. She wear her FANY tunic, now devoid of collar dogs, in these pics.

Shown here are some of her comrades. These photos were taken in the garden of her billet in Minden in March 1946. We have some photos of this house and you can see the photos I showed earlier of Norman on display. The attractive girl wearing the former WREN's uniform is named as Eileen Stoves.